TOM SMITHIES and EMMA KEMP, The Daily TelegraphNovember 29, 2018 8:13pmSubscriber only
IT’S the unintended consequence of expansion that is causing A-League bosses a serious headache – how many rounds to play when two new teams are added, probably next season.
Assuming expansion goes ahead, Confidential can reveal that Fox Sports will inform Football Federation Australia their preference is to broadcast a 22-round regular season, with every club playing each other home and away, followed by the finals series.
That equates to almost exactly the same number of games being broadcast – 137 in a 22-round competition plus finals, as opposed to 140 this year with 10 teams - but it will mean between two and three fewer home games for each club in terms of revenue.
Some had assumed the league would expand to 33 rounds, but at roughly $80,000 production costs per game, that would cost Fox an extra $2.5m – money the broadcaster has made clear it cannot afford.
However, a 22-round league puts FFA on a collision course with the Asian Football Confederation, whose rules around which countries can take part in the Asian Champions League state a minimum of 27 games for the top division.
That can include cup games and finals, but A-League teams would only be guaranteed a minimum of 23.
No wonder FFA CEO David Gallop and his staff are scratching their heads. “We haven’t fully determined the number of rounds in a 12-team competition but obviously we would not want to see our clubs and players playing any less football,” Gallop told Confidential. “We are already playing less than the international benchmarks.
“However we intend to talk to our media partners who do a great job of juggling the period when all codes are operating. The current three round structure is not ideal and the matter gets a lot easier when we have 14 teams.”
Thankfully a 22-round season also rules out the prospect of an AFL-style fixture list, with select games such as derbies and the Big Blue played for a third time at the whim of the competition’s schedulers.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/football/fox-sports-warns-aleague-bosses-extra-teams-will-mean-fewer-rounds/news-story/a9dce5b28d6504b17f179d76644a8587